It is often desirable to mount a platform for the support of plants or other decorative objects on cantilever brackets which extend outwardly from a vertically oriented support structure such as a wall or one or more stanchions. Wall systems often found in homes or apartments include stanchions having a plurality of means to mount cantilever brackets at various vertical heights to provide means for the decorative arrangement of shelves and platforms.
The brackets customarily used in mounting platforms of this type are relatively narrow and enlongated both for reasons of esthetics and economy of manufacture so that they provide only a very small upper support surface. If the shelf or platform is supported by several brackets at two or more spaced points along its length the lack of upper support surface on each bracket provides no problem since the platform or shelf will be prevented by the multiple support points from rotating laterally about the supporting brackets. If however one wishes to support a platform by a single narrow bracket of the type described above the problem of providing adequate lateral stability for the platform becomes formidable.
One solution to this problem is to provide a slot extending into the platform through its lower surface and inserting the upper portion of the support bracket into this slot to provide the needed lateral support. The longitudinal sides of the slot will bear against the longitudinal sides of the bracket to prevent the platform from rotating about the bracket. The amount of lateral support provided by this arrangement will be dependent upon the depth to which the slot extends into the body of the platform. If however the slot extends far enough into the body of the platform to provide adequate lateral support it will decrease the depth of the platform in the area above the slot and thereby create a weakened area in the platform. There will then be a high probability that the platform will break or crack along this weakened area. The alternative of course is to increase the thickness but in volume this is expensive.
The present inventive platform support structure provides adequate lateral support for a platform supported by a single elongated supporting bracket with a narrow support surface without unduly weakening the platform. The inventive structure thereby provides cost savings by permitting a single bracket to do the work of at least two and also permits more flexible and esthetically pleasing mounting arrangements. Accordingly, it is the object of this invention to provide a platform support structure sufficiently rigid and rugged so as to resist turning and breaking moments, yet be economical to manufacture and esthetically pleasing.